This invention relates to an electrical connector for engagement with a terminal post of an electrical storage battery.
Conventional battery terminal posts are formed from lead or an alloy thereof and project from the top surface of the battery casing. The posts are of circular cross-section, and usually taper from a maximum diameter adjacent the battery lid to a minimum at their free end. A variety of connectors for such terminal posts are known. There are some connectors which are simply a push fit onto the post and others which employ a two-part collar the two parts being clamped around the post to grip the post. European Patent No. 0374342 shows an arrangement where a two-part collar is clamped by an over centre linkage arrangement which is relatively difficult and therefore expensive to fabricate, and is prone to wear resulting in loss of clamping force.
German Patent Application No. 3445736 illustrates an arrangement where the collar is clamped around the terminal post solely by spring force. The arrangement is considerably more simple, and therefore potentially less expensive than that illustrated in European Patent No. 0374342, and is advantageous in that it can simply be push fitted onto the terminal post. However, the connector of German Patent Application No. 3445736 is extremely difficult to remove, requiring the introduction of a levering tool, or possibly disassembly of the connector to relieve the spring load.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery terminal post connector in a simple and convenient form wherein the aforementioned disadvantages are minimised or obviated.